How LCCI Mentoring Programme breeds young, resilient entrepreneurs

Nigeria is blessed with young demographics. Estimates show that half of the country’s 193 million people are under the age of 30.

The young population are full of energy and creative powers, but between 40 and 48 percent of them are unemployed, according to the 2016 first to fourth quarter estimates of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Some analysts believe that this population of unemployed people are time bombs that must be urgently and actively engaged to save the country from implosion.

Others see them as a set of creative people whose potential must be fully explored to unleash innovative products that will stimulate the Nigerian economy.

However way they are perceived, one point that stands out is that many young and adventurous Nigerians are beginning to take their destinies into their own hands by doing things themselves. They are beginning to see entrepreneurship as a panacea to poverty, unemployment and low level of productivity in the Nigerian economy. A lot of them are already redefining the way businesses are done in the Information and Communications (ICT), education and training, fashion and designs, fine arts, entertainment and export, among others.

In spite of their escapades, one thing that is lacking among daring entrepreneurs in the country at the moment is an adequate knowledge of the complex nature of businesses. This knowledge gap is responsible for the high level of un-calculated risks taken by many young entrepreneurs in Nigeria, which is why one out of three businesses in the country dies within three years of set-up.

To fill this knowledge gap and cut down the rate of business failures, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) five years ago established the Business Education Services and Training (BEST) unit and subsequently unveiled a mentoring programme to raise the capacity of young entrepreneurs.

The mentoring programme is in its fifth year, having produced award-winning entrepreneurs, some of whom have competed for major prizes.

In 2014, two of the mentees won ‘YouWin Entrepreneurship Award. Also, a graduate of the LCCI Mentorship Programme received the 2014 Sterling Bank Entrepreneur Award.  A product of the programme similarly won the African Young Women Entrepreneurship Award from She Leads Africa, walking off with $20,000. In 2015, the United States Embassy selected a mentee of the programme to participate in a conference in the United States. The conference was addressed by Barrack Obama, the former president of the US.

So far, the chamber has graduated 245 entrepreneurs that are redefining the way businesses are done in their industries.

The 2017 edition of the LCCI Mentoring Programme started last Thursday with many mentees willing to learn from mentors who have vast experience in business, accounting, export, management and entrepreneurship.

According to Nike Akande, president of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the programme had produced mentees making remarkable footprints. Akande focusing on developmental initiative on the youth was a means of investing in the future and guaranteeing bettertomorrow for the country.

“The LCCI mentees are making remarkable progress in their businesses with laudable records of job creation,” Akande said.

She said the programme was one of LCCI’s corporate social responsibility projects and had continued to wax stronger in its impact on the development of youth and skills for business.

Soboma Ajumogobia, chairman of BEST unit, said it was gratifying to note that the majority of the young entrepreneurs were engaged in value- adding activities-either in the provision of services or production operations-, rather than trading.

“For most entrepreneurs, starting a business is significantly challenging. Developing and growing from a business concept into a successful and sustainable enterprise is a tough call that requires great tenacity, a wide range of skills and an unwavering determination to succeed,” Ajumogobia said.

He said that the BEST unit regularly reviewed the performance of its graduates in order to monitor their progress and continually improve the quality of the programme.

“We assure our 2017 mentees that as you exit the programme, we will continue to track your progress and provide you with all the necessary support in addressing your requirements,” he said.

Toki Mabogunje, vice president and chairman of the Membership Committee of the LCCI, who mooted the idea of the mentorship programme, said the chamber often continued to have interest in the business of mentees after the programme, to determine how to assist them in overcoming the challenges of business environment, given the prevailing economic situation.

“Our programme is a rigorous one and has strict rules and guidelines, which mentees must adhere to.  We have an average graduation rate of 98 percent,”  Mabogunje said.

She noted funding the LCCI Mentorship Programme was a major challenge and the chamber was seeking partners to enable it scale up and have greater impact.

Government officials graced the Thursday’s event, ranging from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to state ministries of wealth creation and youth development.

Graduates of the programme also took time to give some testimonies of what it had done in their lives.

Regina Obakoya, who was part of the 4th batch of 2015, said she had always felt comfortable in her talent agency until she attended the LCCI class.

“One day in the class, one of my mentors talked about research. And another day, another mentor spoke about passion. Ever since then, I started researching and exploring. Today, I have become a recyclist and since last year, I have been turning wastes into decorative pieces,” Obakoya, who is the chief executive officer of Aurora Global Solutions, said.

Afolabi Oluwaseun, CEO of Marv. G Designs, who produces pairs of shoes sold by online stores such as Jumia and Konga, said the programme enabled him to have access to the Chinese market.

Oluwaseun said he had been struggling to secure a Chinese visa before the programme but was able to secure it through the chamber, adding that he also learnt rudiments of accounting and sales through the programme.

 

ODINAKA ANUDU